Realtor.com leaves California, setting up headquarters in Texas

Realtor.com is joining the ranks of companies leaving California for Texas.

The real estate listings website, operated by News Corp. subsidiary Move Inc., is relocating its headquarters to Austin from Santa Clara. Realtor.com will now be based at 901 E. Sixth St. in the Texas capital, a building where it’s been a tenant since 2019.

Damian Eales, chief executive officer of Realtor.com, said Texas’s growing talent pool, low cost of living and expansion of the housing stock were part of its appeal. The company has about 60,000 square feet of space in its Austin building, a cross-laminated timber project on the city’s trendy east side. Realtor.com has left its Santa Clara office, and that location’s employees now work remotely.

Austin has developed millions of square feet of new offices in recent years, causing a glut of empty space. The metro area’s vacancy rate was nearly 30% at the end of the year, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield.

third weekly decline for Mortgage rates

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. eased for the third week in a row, a smidgen of relief for prospective home shoppers getting into the market before the busy spring homebuying season starts.

The average rate fell to 6.89% from 6.95% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, it averaged 6.64%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners seeking to refinance their home loan to a lower rate, also retreated this week. The average rate fell to 6.05% from 6.12% last week. A year ago, it averaged 5.9%, Freddie Mac said.

Broccoli sold in bags at nation’s largest retailer potentially deadly

Broccoli sold in bags at Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, has been labeled as deadly by the FDA due to potential Listeria contamination.

The broccoli, bearing the brand name Braga Fresh, was sold at Walmart stores in 20 states as Marketside Broccoli Florets. The 12-ounce bags, labeled best if used by Dec. 10, contained broccoli that was washed and ready to eat.

Listeria monocytogenes can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems, according to the CDC. About 260 people die annually from Listeria infections.

Healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, but a Listeria monocytogenes infection can cause one in four pregnant women to lose their unborn child, the CDC said. Jobless benefits claims rise to 219,000

More Americans filed unemployment claims last week, but the labor market remains healthy and there are still relatively few layoffs.

U.S. applications for jobless benefits rose by 11,000 to 219,000 for the week ending Feb. 1, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Analysts were projecting only 213,000 new applications.

Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered representative of layoffs. The four-week average, which evens out some of the weekly volatility, rose by 4,000 to 216,750.

Compiled from Bloomberg, The Cleveland Plain Dealer and Associated Press reports.